


More than a FEW

by NikuKnight



Category: Fire Emblem Musou | Fire Emblem Warriors, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, I'm still planning this one but I got excited and posted anyway, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:47:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26623900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikuKnight/pseuds/NikuKnight
Summary: Jaylen loved Fire Emblem and all, but actually ending up in Aytolis? During the initial outrealm fiend invasion? Not cool, man, not cool.A Fire Emblem Warriors SI, but with some major changes.(The title is a pun. Fight me.)
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 20
Kudos: 6





	1. It Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, like an absolute moron I fell for a writing prompt and decided to write an entirely new self-insert story with it, to absolutely no-one's surprise. I'm so sorry to anyone reading my other stories. I'm just an idiot apparently. 
> 
> To anyone wondering what the prompt was, it's a little long, but the gist is that you're saved from peril by one of your favorite fictional characters, and you both recognize each other. The punchline is both saying "I can't believe you're actually real." (From write-it-motherfuckers on tumblr) I'm going off-prompt a little bit, somewhat defeating the purpose, but I got inspiration and that's all I can ask of it! Ironically, "I can't believe you're actually real" is never actually said. Woops. 
> 
> There's only a couple things to know before starting:  
> One: this has nothing to do with my other FE SI, Playing by Ear. Sorry folks.  
> Two: I'm as gender-confused as ever, so I'm gonna have some fun with that. For now we're going with gender-neutral. This character's about 4 parts me and 1 part who I want to be.

You know, at first, I thought I was dreaming.

I disregarded that notion, though, as when I'm dreaming I can normally fly, at least, and turn intangible and will things to change. But now? Now, I could do none of that. I was just as much in peril as I was a second ago, no flight to shake off my pursuers, no intangibility to escape with, no "willing things" different to put me somewhere else.

Currently, I was running for my life. Running, a skill I'd never been particularly good at. The last time I'd been good at running was over ten years ago, when I played soccer in elementary school. But enough of that.

What was I running from, exactly? I didn't quite believe it myself, hence why I initially thought I was dreaming. Monsters. Flat-out, not even remotely human-looking monsters. If anything, I'd relate them to the outrealm fiends of Fire Emblem Warriors—but those were fictional. Monsters of all kinds were supposed to be fictional, but I sincerely doubted it would be  _Fire Emblem,_ of all things, that would get it right.

Look, I don't know how I got into this mess. One moment I was taking a walk (a rare, unusually adventurous happening for yours truly) in the park near my—or, rather, my mom's—house, and the next I was running from monsters.

Let me back up a tad. The park's forest wasn't that dense or anything, so I figured even I couldn't get lost in it. My sense of direction wasn't great, but it wasn't  _terrible._ As far as I remembered, you could never quite go far enough in to lose sight of the sidewalk before coming out the other side.

I proved myself wrong rather quickly. What started as an afternoon walk turned into an evening stroll, and no matter how many times I turned around I just seemed to be going in deeper.

It was getting dark out, and growing up as a young woman, no matter what I considered myself now, meant that I'd been taught to be paranoid. Not of monsters, of course, just creepy people, but either way when the sun started going down I was ready to get out of the bigger-than-I-remembered woods.

Ready or not, though, it seemed fate had other ideas.

I saw something glowing through the trees ahead—civilization?! Hallelujah!—and hurried towards it, only to trip to a stop when I saw what exactly I was rushing towards. The glow was coming from a portal. Yeah, a freaking portal. Surprisingly, that wasn't the problem. No, the  _problem_ was the trio of monsters standing in front of it. Literal monsters! In  _real life!!_

There was no real way to tell if I was dreaming at this point, as it was rare but possible to not have any powers; the stereotypical pinching technique was pointless, as I could feel pain in my dreams. I could also bleed, die, and read, among other things one isn't supposed to be able to do in dreams. Not to brag; it's actually extremely inconvenient. I mean, who  _wants_ to feel pain when they don't have to?

I was getting off-track. Whether I was dreaming or not, I definitely didn't want to be at the mercy of those claws, 'cause I'd feel the consequences either way. These monsters did NOT look friendly. Sneaking away was no longer an option—tripping had already ruined that. The monsters trained their single orange-and-yellow eyes on me, an air of malevolence coming off them in waves.

The other option was to run, which I took without a second thought.

Sprinting the way I came, I prayed to whomever might listen to let me find a way out of this forest. My prayers were answered, but, much like a wish granted by a devious genie, not  _quite_ the way I'd hoped. 

As if by magic (which for all I knew it could have been, at this point) another light appeared in front of me, which I was already running through before I could even process that it was there. Just like that I was out of the forest as I'd wished, only now I had an even bigger problem: I had even less of an idea of where I was now than I'd had in the forest! Because now I looked to be at an honest-to-god castle, and there were more monsters everywhere, and dear lord I was going to die. 

I heard screaming and realized I wasn't the only human in the vicinity. I felt like screaming, too, but seeing (or hearing) someone else struggling always brought out the urge in me to pull through. Panic was discarded for adrenaline, and I dodged through the throng of beasts towards the sound. 

I couldn't dodge everything, though. There were a lot of sharp things on these monsters, and they were all very slash-happy with said sharp things. They were far more experienced at attacking than I was at dodging, unfortunately. Long story short, I came out of the throng in far worse condition than I went in, though I was still standing, at least. 

The same could not be said for the poor, screaming soul I'd come to aid. I arrived just in time to see the poor woman get beheaded by a monster's claws. I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from screaming, or retching, or both. I'd never seen that kind of gore in person before; fight me. 

I limped backwards towards the nearest alleyway, intent on hiding, at this point. I had no weapon, and even if I did, would I even know how to use it? Probably not. I could handle a gun, but despite being born and raised in Texas (you'd be surprised how much location has to do with people liking guns), I wasn't a real fan of of modern weapons. I was more into blades, specifically swords and knives. Of course, no training on any of them, either, but…

Wait a second, I had a boxcutter on my keys! It was rusty and would break quickly, but it was better than nothing. Heh, maybe the monsters were prone to tetanus. Fumbling with the keys on my lanyard as I continued to limp backwards, I did not see the other bodies behind me and promptly tripped. I failed to stifle a squeak—not that it mattered, as my jangling keys had already gotten more monsters' attention. 

Oooooh god I was going to die, I was going to die, I was going to die—

I pathetically brandished my boxcutter, wishing for at least my pocket knife. I'd left it at home because it was packed, as I was between houses at the moment. That's why I'd been crashing on my mom's couch for the last couple of weeks. None of this mattered, of course, except that my pocket knife was unavailable and my boxcutter was the best thing I had on me, but I tended to go off on tangents when under pressure, like now. 

I swiped wildly at the closest monster, but it didn't even flinch. Giving up on that, I instead crab-walked backwards as fast as my aching limbs would allow, hoping to make it into the alley behind me. I tried to ignore the bodies I had tripped on and was now scuttling over. It was too late for them. Had they tried the same thing? Was I doomed to die and join them here? 

My mind was going a million miles an hour, random thoughts careening around and around my head. 

_I'm going to die—_

_These guys really do look like outrealm fiends, don't they?_

_Please I'm not religious enough to not be afraid of death—_

_Doesn't this place look familiar?_

_God, these wounds hurt._

_Wouldn't it be nice if they really were outrealm fiends?_

_I wish I could breathe properly dear god. Anxiety sucks._

_If this was Aytolis and those were outrealm fiends I was in serious trouble. No, it would not be nice._

_I'm going to die I'm going to die I'm going to die—_

_If this is indeed Aytolis during the initial invasion, that means there's hope of rescue and escape._

_STOP THINKING ABOUT FIRE EMBLEM, JAYLEN, YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!_

My panic, fear, pain, and at this point delirium was causing the world to spin and darken. No! I willed my limbs to move, but the blood loss from the numerous gashes I'd gotten from the monsters was taking its toll. I moved sluggishly, adrenaline no longer having any effect.

Before I could get any farther, the nearest monster took a swipe at me. It somehow missed, barely. I attempted to kick it, but not only was I tired and slow, but also awkwardly balanced in a crab-walk. The monster—you know what? Fuck it. If I'm going to die a horrible death then I'm at least going to pretend I'm in an awesome game doing it. The  _ outrealm fiend _ batted my leg aside with its claws, easily slicing through skin and muscle.

This time I screamed.

* * *

Unknown to me, my scream alerted a certain retreating trio to my presence.

"Did you hear that? There's someone else still alive! We have to help them!" Rowan, the blond exclaimed.

"We don't have time. If we stay any longer, we'll be ovewhelmed." It pained Darios to say it, but there was little hope for anyone still in the capital. They needed to be realistic.

"You're right; we don't have time. Instead of debating, we should be helping!" It was Lianna who changed directions first, surprising her companions, as it was usually Rowan who was the impulsive one.

Darios and Rowan looked at each other, one shocked and the other grim, and turned to follow.

* * *

I didn't want to die. I didn't want to give up, but it didn't look like I had much choice. Everything hurt, the outrealm fiends were closing in, and I had no way to defend myself or hide. Fight or flight had failed, as I was unable to do either.

"Hey!" I heard a girl's voice call, and looked up with blurring vision to see a very familiar princess diverting the attention of several monsters away from me and onto herself. Realizing what she'd done, she hesitated uneasily. "Uh-um…"

"Lianna!" Her twin brother appeared, and I just knew I was losing it. First monsters, then portals, now fictional characters? Right. I was nuts.

"Let me guess, Darios is right behind you?" I joked. This was insane. For all I knew I was in a coma somewhere, and this was my coma dream. Fantastic. Couldn't it have been a little less violent for once?

Lianna was momentarily stunned. "He is, actually."

"No time to talk, sis!" Rowan cut down the nearest monster. One down, how many to go? "I thought you wanted to help!"

"Right!" Lianna joined her brother in clearing the beasts around me.

I watched in a stupor. Was I still going to die? I didn't know anymore. Regardless, it wasn't every day I could see fictional characters fighting monsters in the flesh. I might as well make the most of this.

"Behind you!" Another voice shouted, and suddenly a blur of blue and dark gray swooped over me, blocking a monster's claws I hadn't noticed in the alley behind me. Guess that hadn't been a good hiding place after all.

With a grunt my savior—Darios, of course—managed to shove the monster away before cutting it down. "We need to leave," he looked at me, his eyes narrowing at my mangled leg. "Can you stand?"

"Maybe?" My arms were killing me, my bad wrist not agreeing to supporting my weight. And if I thought my arms hurt, my legs were another story.

The foreign prince sighed. "Alright you two, help Miss…?"

"Just Jaylen. No 'Miss.'" I supplied.

"Right," Darios nodded. "Help Jaylen, and I'll cover you. We can't stop for anything, got it?"

"Got it, let's go!" Rowan helped me to my feet, or at least, he helped me to my one working foot. The other just sort of dragged uselessly on the ground. Bringing me upright combined with the blood loss caused me to white out for a moment. My head lolled. Lianna snapped next to my ear, trying to get my attention. I could hear her, barely. She was trying to speak to me, probably tell me to stay awake, but it was so hard to listen.

With Rowan on one side and Lianna on the other, we all ran (or tried to) to the exit of the city.

* * *

Once out of the city, we slowed down, but couldn't afford to stop just yet. We needed to put some distance between us and the outrealm fiends taking over the capital, at least enough that it would be safe to take a rest. I was practically a sack of potatoes at this point, but no one said anything about what a burden I was as far as I knew. Which didn't mean much, as I was drifting in and out of consciousness.

Eventually, I couldn't hold on to the waking world anymore, and I blacked out.

* * *

When their new companion went limp and stayed that way, they finally decided to stop.

"We should be far enough away now, and we need to take a look at Jaylen." Darios spoke. They were in a forested area now, the city far behind them. "I've got some medical supplies, but they're not much. What we really need is a healer."

"I was learning, but I don't have a staff with me," Lianna said regretfully.

"Oh! I've got a vulnerary!" Rowan realized, digging through his pockets.

The exasperation in Darios's eyes was clear. "It might be good to start with that next time, Rowan."

"Here it is!" Rowan ignored Darios's slight jab, pulling out the object of his search. "Um, how do we get them to drink it?"

"Leave that to me," Lianna said. "I did say I was learning, didn't I?" She took the vulnerary from her brother, eventually getting it down the newcomer's throat.

* * *

I shifted at the very odd feeling of muscle and skin knitting back together. It was only slightly uncomfortable, but it was enough to confuse me back into the awakening world. Or the Fire Emblem: Warriors world, I suppose.

I stared blankly at the sky for a moment, trying to remember how I got there.

"Are you feeling better?" Lianna asked.

Shifting to focus on her, I nodded. "I definitely feel like I didn't almost just get killed by an outrealm fiend."

"Is that what they're called?" Darios asked. "What do you know about them?"

"Not much," I admitted. "I know they come from the outrealms, and they're the Chaos Dragon's forces. The weakest ones are red, the mid-tier ones are purple, and the strongest ones are yellow. That's about it."

"How did you know Darios was on his way after me?" Lianna asked.

I grimaced, sitting up now. "That's a harder explanation. One all three of you should be here for."

"All three of—huh?" Lianna and Darios looked around, only just now discovering that Rowan was gone. He had disappeared shortly before we started talking, if I was guessing correctly. He was probably meeting the Awakening crew now.

I laughed at their inattention, never mind that I hadn't seen him disappear either. "He went that way, I think." I pointed to a gap in the trees, where the ground sloped down abruptly.

"That airhead!" Lianna exclaimed, getting up to find him. Once she got to the slope she promptly disappeared with a yelp, the steep incline surprising her.

"Are you able to walk now?" Darios held out his hand to help me up somewhat urgently. I didn't blame him; this was not a time to let either of the twins out of his sight.

"Only one way to find out," I answered, accepting it. Once on my feet I gave myself a minute to get my bearings before taking a hesitant step. Nothing bad happened, so I counted that as a win. "Looks like that's a 'yes.'"

"Good. Let's go." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, didn't plan on almost killing the main character in the first chapter, but the prompt said they were injured, and that's just how it went. 
> 
> If you can't tell by the summary, I plan on taking some major liberties with this story. I'm a little scared to go so off-script, but hopefully I can manage. 
> 
> If you've read Playing by Ear, you know that I take quite a bit of medicine for my mental health, and don't do well without it. Well! I've already written a story where that was a major plot point, so we're skipping all that here. I am not trying to write a carbon copy of my first story here, thank you. In fact, despite being a self-insert, a lot of things are different about the main character! When it comes down to it, these are still OCs, so I can change what I want. Thus the different names! 
> 
> Anyway, if you liked what you read (or maybe you didn't and want to let me know why), comments are welcome!


	2. Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jayden discovers that magic? It's a little powerful. Just a little bit. A teensy smidgen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else notice that there's NO STORIES for Fire Emblem Warriors? I'm hoping to fix that with this, but it's still tragic. DARIOS DESERVES MORE LOVE AND BY GOLLY HE WILL GET IT!

To everyone's surprise but mine, we found Rowan talking with the Awakening crew. 

I didn't know if I was disappointed or relieved that Robin wasn't there; I'd had a crush on the tactician for literal years. I'd cooled my jets somewhat at the discovery that I was not only asexual (I'd known that one since I was…sixteen? I was twenty-two now, so that was very old news), but also aromantic. Honestly, I just wanted to be Robin's very best friend, I guess? But that was Chrom's place, and Fire Emblem Warriors had made it  _pretty_ clear that Robin only had eyes for him. So unless I managed to worm my way in as cuddle buddies with both of them, which I was not averse to, that was out. 

But that was nowhere near important right now, lordy. I must still be delirious if I was thinking about relationships instead of, you know, the situation at hand.

Ahem. 

Tuning back in, I discovered that I hadn't actually missed much at all. Thank goodness. 

The twins had introduced themselves and Darios, and hopefully me, since I hadn't been paying attention. Darios had just finished explaining the situation: the outrealm fiends' attack, leaving the Queen behind, and needing to take the Shield of Flames to the temple. 

"…I see. I understand your situation," Chrom said. 

"You're clearly capable fighters," Darios started. "Will you lend us your strength?"

Right. Let's just ask the first people we see for help. I get that the situation was somewhat dire, but really?

Then again, they were still toting  _me_ along, so maybe I shouldn't complain.

Lissa responded first, not even thinking about it. "Oh, Chrom, we have to help them!" She looked at him with big, puppy-dog eyes. Dear god.

Chrom crumbled  _immediately._ I didn't even blame him, good lord. "You're right; we can't just walk away from people in need."

"Just a moment, milord." Frederick cut in. "It's dangerous to trust mysterious strangers outright…if we are to join them, please allow me to provide a test first."

Lissa laughed. "You mean like, 'Grr, I'm Frederick, and you'll have to defeat me to earn my help!'?"

Frederick seemed unperturbed by Lissa's less-than-flattering interpretation of him. "Exactly."

"Wait, really?" Lissa was taken aback; she'd only been joking, apparently.

"Not a fight to the death, but I'll learn all I need by facing them on the battlefield," Frederick assured.

"Um, this is awkward," I grimaced. "I don't know how to fight? I don't even have a weapon." I rubbed the back of my neck, embarrassed by this admission. Despite that being the norm in my world, things were different here. Knowing how to fight was pretty important.

"What's that knife around your neck, then?" Rowan asked.

"My keys?" I looked down, realizing what he was talking about. "Oh, my boxcutter." I held up the rusty thing, sliding the blade out of the plastic. "It, uh, is used for cutting cardboard boxes? Not for fighting." I slid the blade closed, dropping it and letting my lanyard catch it.

"Well, it's never too late to learn." Chrom said, pulling a tome from out of nowhere. "I have one of Robin's extra tomes, if you want to try it. It might be better than expecting you to hold your own with a melee weapon right away."

"Thanks?" Okay, so it looked like not fighting wasn't an option. Guess I wasn't going to pull a Tactician Mark and be in the background while everyone else fought. Which, to be fair, might be for the best; that seemed a bit…selfish. Sorry Mark, but I think I'd rather learn to fight.

There was one problem remaining, however. "How do I use this?"

Everyone looked at everyone else for an answer. I looked around as well, coming to a realization: NO ONE HERE knew how tomes worked. They all used either swords or axes.

I sighed. Must I do everything myself?

I flipped open the tome, feeling a surge of power in its pages. Oh, that was cool. Holding the book in one hand, I raised the other. "Maybe if I—"

Frederick cleared his throat. "Perhaps you should test that _away_ from people, hmm?"

"R-right." I snapped the tome shut, the feeling of power fading.

"In any case, this test should be the perfect opportunity to learn, both for me, and for you." Frederick got back to the point.

"You may not trust them, Frederick, but they having nothing to prove to me. I'll fight alongside these strangers." Chrom continued the canon conversation like I hadn't intervened.

"Me too!" Lissa agreed.

"We'll talk about what you know later, Jaylen." Darios said. "For now, prepare for battle."

Oh boy.

* * *

The battlefield was set: somehow there was a ginormous clearing nearby, complete with fences and gates to direct the battle with. It looked every bit as out-of-place here as in the game.

"If everything is in order, let's go! First, you need to take out the soldiers in the surrounding area." Frederick was sequestered away in a corner behind a few gates, but despite this we could all hear him clearly. Ah, yes, the strange magic of Fire Emblem cross-battlefield communication. It was interesting to experience it in person. 

"You mean like, to dinner? Or…" I joked. 

"We'll take them out in no time flat!" Rowan exclaimed, either having not heard me or ignoring my joke.

"Focus, you two! This isn't a game!" Lianna scolded. "We have to earn their trust."

I snorted at 'this isn't a game.' Right. Of course it wasn't. What a funny idea that would be.

"Okay, okay, let's get started." Rowan grumbled. I could've sworn I heard a "party-pooper" thrown in.

With the okay to start, I opened my borrowed tome. Once again I felt the power trapped in its pages. But how to release it? I couldn't read the symbols written, but these tomes surely worked differently than in the main games. Instead of having a different tome for every type of magic, everything was rolled into one.

So if this was one of Robin's tomes, I had access to balls of electricity, arcfire, elwind, thoron, whatever dark magic spell he used on his fourth attack, and then that crashing lightning attack at the end. So lots of electric spells. Maybe I could try an elwind?

Focusing on the idea of green wind magic, I felt the power travel from the tome to my other arm, flowing out of my hand, where it curled into a visible green ball of energy. Wind poured from it, blowing my hair back and laying the grass down around me.

Okay, so that's how you do that.

Despite being in a battle, no matter how friendly the adversaries, everyone gave me a wide berth, as it was clear I had no idea what I was doing. A newbie mage was a dangerous thing—control was essential to targeting only your enemies. And when you were trying  _not_ to kill said enemies? Precision was even more important. 

Back to the magic at hand (literally) I watched as the orb of wind grew as more and more power pooled into my hand.

_ Huh. I should probably let go of this soon _

The thought barely crossed my mind before the orb exploded, as I'd lost my concentration on keeping it contained. I was blown off my feet, and so was everyone else in the vicinity. Luckily, this wasn't too many people, as everyone had been giving me ample space to get the hang of magic.

Wow. It was a good thing I hadn't started with fire, huh?

For my next attempt I siphoned a little less power, instead focusing on concentrating it down into a smaller point. If it had exploded like that on my first attempt, what if I refined it a bit? Maybe instead of slicing like blades I could blow people off their feet? That sounded a little underwhelming, but it would be good to catch an enemy wrong-footed.

This time I made sure to lob the orb forward before I lost control of it, using excess energy to push it farther from myself. This time it exploded like a grenade, only there wasn't any shrapnel. Ylissean soldiers went flying, and I winced at the display. Maybe I should tone it down a little. It was only a practice fight, after all.

"Perhaps I was in error when I said 'don't hold back'…" Frederick muttered. Louder, he said, "Jaylen! Try to leave some of my soldiers  _ alive!" _

"Sorry!" I called back. I really hoped he was joking, because I was not out to kill anyone yet.

So, instead of my wind-bombs, I started practicing with electricity. No concussive force to that, right?

There was no need to pool power this time, so I simply used myself as a conduit to release electrical energy. Luckily, aiming wasn't as hard as I thought so long as there wasn't any metal between me and my target, so as long as I kept the power down I didn't have to worry about severely injuring anyone. Just scrambling their brains a bit, heh.

"Lissa, that's too far! You're surrounded by enemies!" I heard Chrom shout.

Ah, here comes Owain.

I paused my magic practice to watch the oncoming spectacle.

"Halt, O villains!" A blond swordsman posed dramatically on top of the short cliff overlooking the clearing.

Lissa, who'd already been nervous about the three soldiers she was facing, looked up at the "mystery" swordsman fearfully. "W-who are you? Another one?"

"I'm your—" he almost gave himself away before correcting himself. "Uh, it doesn't matter who I am!" To himself, saying, "my origin story's kind of a mess…you know what? I'm just gonna take it from the top." He puffed himself up. "I am Owain Dark, and though I must remain a mystery, know I am sworn to defend you, no matter the odds."

Good gosh Owain, I know you're dramatic, but a real enemy would not wait for your introduction!

"Now, villains, face my wrath!" With that, Owain jumped off the cliff, sword drawn, yelling, "Radiant DAAAWWWN!!"

He missed the soldiers.

As the soldiers looked at themselves to make sure this wasn't some kind of trick, Owain tried to recover. "My sword hand! It has a mind of its own!"

Lissa looked utterly confused. "What is up with this guy?"

Right. Well, they probably had that handled, so I turned my attention back to my own area of the field. A few soldiers had approached, warily readying to attack while I wasn't spouting magic every which way.

Ha, unfortunately for them, I noticed.

Without announcing my spell, as I really didn't know which thunder spell I was using, or if it mattered, I drew some electricity from the tome and threw my free arm forward, directing electricity at the soldiers and making them dive for cover.

Man, was magic really that scary?

* * *

Between me throwing both windblown soldiers and electricity around and the others doing their part, we reached Frederick without any more fuss.

Considering he was wearing metal armor, I did not want to use any electricity here. While I was standing back debating, the twins faced Frederick down.

"It seems you have me at a weapons disadvantage," Frederick observed. He backed his horse out of the way of one of Rowan's swings.

"Says the one on the horse!" Lianna quipped back.

"You'll have to deal with worse adversaries than me someday. If you can't handle this, why should I trust you to fight alongside milord Chrom?" Frederick swung down with his axe, barely blocked by Lianna's sword.

Meanwhile, Darios had entered the fray, ducking around to Frederick's other side while he was distracted by the twins. Once there, he lunged, aiming to knock Frederick off of his horse with the side of his blade.

The attack hit, but Frederick managed to save himself. "Well done; a two-point attack. But you'll have to do better than that!" Righting himself in his saddle, he brandished his axe, and I saw my chance.

"Ha!" I released the orb of wind I'd been condensing, hoping to knock Frederick's axe from his hand. My aim was a bit off, though, so despite my good intentions I ended up throwing Frederick right off his steed with more force than necessary. He landed hard on the ground.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry I swear I was aiming for your axe!" I ran to see if he was okay while everyone else sheathed their weapons.

"Freddy-bear's fine, don't worry!" Lissa tried to assure me. "He's the toughest of all of us!"

I had a feeling she was taking his strength for granted, but she did seem to have a point; Frederick was already getting to his feet.

"You'll certainly be a powerful ally once you've had some training," the knight admitted. "But in the future, it might be in everyone's best interest for you to sit out of the friendly fights until you learn more control."

I ducked my head, accepting the praise and admonishment.

"Hopefully we can find Robin soon. He should be able to help you," Chrom said.

"About that…" I started. "I owe all of you an explanation." I turned to Darios. "I was going to tell you before, but didn't want to repeat myself since Rowan had wandered off. You'll learn this anyway, so it's not like I'm hurting anything."

"What do you mean, 'you'll learn this anyway?'" Rowan asked. "Your clothes  _are_ strange, but how would you know any more than us about what's going on?"

Being in a game where people from other worlds was the norm, I really didn't have anything to hide. "As you might have figured out, some of us are not from this world. You've never heard of each other's kingdoms. I'm from a little farther away than that, even. This is going to sound strange, but in my world, this is all just a story. Long story short, I know things about what's going to happen. I don't know how useful I'll be in a fight, but I might be able to help with events to come."

"If we're just a story in your world, does that mean we win?" Lianna asked the big question.

I weighed my options before answering. "…you do, but at great personal cost. Since I'm here, I want to help ensure you don't have to pay that."

There was silence, before Frederick broke it. "In any case, how does bear for dinner sound?"

"Wait, don't change the subject!" Lissa exclaimed. "Jaylen might know why we're here instead of at home!"

"You're here because the Chaos Dragon, Velezark, is rising from its sealed prison in the outrealms. It has the power to open outrealm portals, and commands the fiends that come from them. These outrealm portals are how you got here.

"As for  _why_ you're here, think of it as this world asking for your help. In order to re-seal Velezark away, you need the completed Shield of Flames. To complete it, you need the gleamstones, which are contained in heroes from other worlds."

I saw Owain get excited at the prospect of being a hero, hearing him mutter something along the lines of "finally, recognition!" and decided to hurry this along before I had to watch the future-born teen embarrass himself.

"You're one of those heroes, Chrom."

"Me? A hero? I don't think that's quite right…" Chrom looked like he was at a loss for words.

"You think my _brother's_ one of the heroes you need?" Lissa laughed. "Please! We're not the hero type."

Right, and I'd lived here all my life.

"Shield of Flames, please." I held out my hand. I was going to prove it to these dunderheads that they were heroes, even if I messed up the narrative doing it!

"I don't think that's a wise—" Darios started, but Rowan had already handed me the precious shield.

Once the shield was in close proximity to Chrom, the Ylissean prince began to glow. There was no Robin here to comment on this in the gayest way possible ("Chrom!  _ Your body, _ [insert awkwardly long pause] it's glowing!"), which I felt a little bad about, but they could stare at each other later, I guess.

Why am I thinking about this? Bad brain. No shipping people you actually know, you hear me?!

And wasn't that weird, to meet these people in person.

By the time I snapped out of my thoughts, there was a new gleamstone in the Shield of Flames and I'd missed the whole show. Ah well. One down, four to go. 

I handed the Shield back to Rowan. "Case and point," I said smugly.

"I'm…a hero?" Chrom asked, looking at his hands. Goodness, what had this man done to think he wasn't??

"Yes, dummy, you're a hero. Now what was that about a bear, Frederick?"

Frederick straightened up, happy to be relevant again. "Yes, I killed a bear during a lull in the battle, and it wouldn't do to let it go to waste."

Lianna looked flabbergasted. "Wh-what?! You eat bear?!"

"Aw, not bear again!" Lissa whined, "it's too tough and gamey for my tastes…"

"You've eaten it before?!"

"What good fortune—a chance to absorb that proud, ferocious spirit once more!" Owain said with gusto.

"Owain, does that mean…have you also eaten it before?" Lianna was starting to look scared. 

"More than once!" Owain grinned. 

Owain's energy was contagious, spreading to Rowan. "All right, I'm in! If this dinner is our next challenge, I'm game! A true knight must face any obstacle with enthusiasm!" 

"Everyone else may partake first. I'll be content with leftovers, if any remain." I could see Frederick starting to sweat at the thought of eating bear meat. Which, why did he kill it if he didn't like eating it himself?

Lissa grinned an evil, overly cheerful grin. "You can't avoid bear that easily, Frederick! I'll share some of mine with you!"

"That's really not necessary, lady Lissa," Frederick tried to escape his own mistake, but alas, no one really does avoid bear that easily, when Lissa's around. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The canon dialog in this game is such a treat, honestly. It's so clever and well-done and appropriate parts goofy and serious. 
> 
> I've scrambled things around a bit, so only a couple scenes match canon word-for word. I skipped a lot of in-battle dialog because it just didn't really fit, but I did what I could. It's going to be hard balancing so may characters, especially since I'm not hugely familiar with all of them like I was in Awakening.


	3. Awakening 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've got nothing clever to say here. We meet Cordelia and Robin? Owain is Owain?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three, written by me! Or other such rhyming nonsense. 
> 
> Sorry for the long wait after the first two chapters came out so quickly! Living with my mom was not a good thing mentally, which meant my creativity took a nosedive. I'm back in with my roommates now though! Not gonna lie, though, I've been sitting on this chapter for months. I wanted to finish the chapter before posting, but writer's block said no. 
> 
> So, chapter three! Looking at the canon script, I've already covered a lot of it last chapter. Woops? That's what I get for letting Jaylen meddle, though. But it's time for the introduction of the best boy, Robin! I'm horribly biased, but he's also my favorite character to play, and my only level 100+ character so far! His opus is so hard to get though…as a result, Azura, Leo, and Niles are actually my highest damage-dealers, as I already have their opus.

Chrom watched the skies as we marched towards the temple. "She should be here any time now…"

I knew him to be talking about Cordelia, but Rowan, Lianna, and Darios looked confused. Darios opened his mouth to ask who Chrom was referring to, but closed it at the sight of a pegasus knight swooping down from the sky.

The airborne knight landed without stumbling, dismounting from her pegasus. "Chrom, I'm back!"

"Cordelia! What did you find out?" I was reminded that Chrom was more than just a goof, but he was also the  _commander_ of the Shepherds. Right.

"It's as we expected. There's not a single familiar landmark in sight."

Chrom nodded, unsurprised. "Then it really is as our new friends say; we're a long way from Ylisse."

"I also spotted some fierce-looking creatures running rampant." Cordelia continued.

"Those must be the outrealm fiends Jaylen was talking about," Chrom surmised. "Come this way, Cordelia, meet our new allies."

I stood, transfixed. Gosh, why was everyone in Fire Emblem so attractive?! I knew Cordelia was pretty, but seeing her in person? She was stunning!

I managed to not make a fool of myself during introductions, but it was a close thing. Rowan, on the other hand…

"Oh cool, you're a pegasus knight? That's so awesome!" He gushed.

"Don't make such a fuss," Lianna elbowed him in an attempt to remind him to control himself. She then turned to Cordelia. "I'm sorry about him," she apologized.

Cordelia smiled. "It's no problem at all. Are pegasus knights rare here?" She drew the logical conclusion.

"It's more that he really loves—" Darios began.

"Knights!" Rowan cut him off. "They can move right to the action! Knights are the best!"

"…knights," Darios finished, his exasperation clear.

Cordelia, for her part, just laughed. "I see."

"We should move out," Chrom reminded everyone. "The temple isn't far now. If Robin's there as Jaylen says, we should make haste."

Cordelia sobered. "I'll take point. I can fly, after all."

"Good idea. We're counting on you."

* * *

We finally made it to the hill overlooking the temple, allowing us to take in a worrying sight: The temple was overrun with Gristonne soldiers, with Robin and only a few Aytolisian soldiers completely surrounded.

Cordelia glided down, presumably giving Robin the news of Chrom's arrival. As we were not on the battlefield yet, the magic of cross-battlefield-communication had not yet kicked in, so we couldn't actually hear what was being said. Amazing.

"Why would Gristonne attack an Aytolisian temple?" Darios's distraught confusion was clear in his voice.

"No time for that, now, Robin and Cordelia need our help!" Chrom rushed past, intent on joining the fray whether we followed him or not.

I hesitated, before following with the others. My first real battle; how would I fare?

* * *

Once I was far enough away from my allies to avoid hurting them (though stranding myself from help in the process), I started by releasing a wave of electricity, stunning the surrounding enemies long enough to let me charge a stronger attack. No need to hold back now, right? As I channeled power from the tome to my other hand, I could feel it pooling not only in the forming ball in my palm, but also in the path it traveled. This meant that I myself became a container for power, with the sparking orb I was holding being the only bit I really controlled.

Woops.

Look, I was going off pure instinct here. Cut me some slack, okay?

When I felt like I was about to explode with magic power I allowed the ball of electricity to escape my concentrated hold, causing it to shoot forward and explode across the enemies that were just starting to regain their senses. All the power I'd stored followed, creating a thunderbolt that spread instantaneously after. The thunder that followed was deafening, shaking the area.

Goodness. Maybe I'd save the charged attacks for bosses. These guys were not getting up any time soon. If ever.

I was left feeling drained, as well, giving me all the more reason not to abuse such powerful attacks. I wasn't sure I was fit to pull another one of those off.

I stuck to wind magic after that, pairing up with Lianna. I'd knock enemies over with a burst of wind magic, and Lianna would dive in and finish them off. It was a bit underhanded (it was almost  _literally_ kicking them while they were down) but it was also efficient, so I couldn't really complain. 

I wondered how much game mechanics would affect things. Would some people be more resilient than others? Able to take impossible hits? Were there unit types? Were some weapons really more effective against some types than others? 

Thinking during a battle was, of course, a bad idea. Lianna had to shout to get my attention as I was almost ambushed from the side. 

"Thanks!" I shoved my would-be attacker back with some wind magic, allowing the Aytolisian princess to jump in without fear of retaliation. 

"No problem, just stay alert!" With our area cleared, Lianna ran off, presumably deeper into the temple. 

Ack! Wait, don't disappear! 

But it was too late; I was not a fast runner in the slightest—we'd already been over this—so Lianna was soon out of sight around a corner. 

_Man, if only I knew how to levitate like the other mages…_

Making it to the corner where Lianna disappeared, I discovered, much to my dismay, that there was a fork around the bend. Which way had Lianna gone? This was a battle! You don't leave co-fighters behind!

Meanwhile, Gristonne soldiers were crawling out of the woodwork, and despite my best efforts I was soon surrounded.

Unfortunately, I didn't know how to do an attack that surrounded me on all sides, so I was out of luck.

Or so I thought.

"Worry not, fair maiden! Owain Dark intervenes! My sword hand craves blood, and I shall not deny it!"

"Thanks, Owain…" I sighed. Owain is an acquired taste, to be sure. He made me laugh, but that laughter was usually a mix between legitimate mirth and mental pain at everything he said. Secondhand embarrassment is cruel like that. Owain may not be embarrassed by his behavior, but I certainly could be! Oh well. At least he was having fun?

Wait a second.

"Hey! I'm no fair maiden!" I huffed. "A bit fair, maybe, but maiden? I think not!" I charged some magic, watching it glow and swirl about my fingers. "Besides, with this, I'm not  _completely_ helpless, either." I smiled at the power I held in my grasp.

With a cry, I shot it forward, a white laser of element-less power ripping through the air. It was too fast for the Gristonne soldiers to dive for cover, and they were thrown back with force.

"Ah, my apologies!" Owain said in his dramatic way. "I meant no offense, good sir! It looked like you could use saving, and no hero should pass up a fellow warrior in distress!" He continued rambling, but I couldn't process everything he was saying on top of the sounds of battle.

Heh, he called me sir. Not quite what I meant when I said I wasn't a maiden, (gender- _neutral,_ people. It exists!) but I always liked being called sir, so I didn't bother to correct him.

Once we had defeated all the Gristonne soldiers in the vicinity, I turned to Owain. "Do you know the way we're supposed to be going?" I ran my free hand through my sweaty hair (ew), sheepish. "I'm not good in unfamiliar buildings; I get lost."

Owain, as confused as I was, dropped all pretenses of being heroic. "Um," he pointed to the path on the right side of the fork. "That way maybe?"

Oh god, he didn't know either?

More Gristonne soldiers came running down the hall towards us. Specifically the left hall.

I readied my borrowed tome. "I bet if we go through them we'll either find Robin or the boss."

Nodding, Owain got back into a battle stance. "My sword hand shall lead the way!"

* * *

Fighting our way through the newest wave of Gristonne soldiers, we finally made it out of the hallways and into a large room open to the sky. I spotted some of the others (namely Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa) surrounding Robin, allowing him to take a breather. He'd been fighting on his own for a while, it looked like.

That still left Rowan, Lianna, and Darios and Cordelia unaccounted for.

Owain and I joined the group present. "Are the others searching for the temple's priests?" I enquired. "There's a curate on the north side, if I remember correctly."

"Cordelia's leading them to the curate," Frederick supplied. "What else do you know?"

While being grilled for information was normally annoying, Frederick had a valid reason to ask. We were in the middle of a battle, and any information could mean the difference between victory and defeat. "Validar, the dark mage Gristonne hired, is in a fort southeast of the temple. If we take him out that should cause the soldiers to retreat."

"We should head that way, then," Chrom decided. "Robin, are you ready to move? I know it's been a long battle for you."

"Ready as I'll ever be," Robin replied. "It'll be over soon, by the sounds of it. I'll rest then."

* * *

Fighting as a large group was much easier than fighting as a pair, let me tell you. The main reason was because there was always someone to watch your back.

There was a downside, though: I had to be more careful not to hit anyone on my side with magic. Considering I literally started using magic today, this was understandably difficult.

After a few close calls, though, we finally reached Validar.

Goodness, I did not like Validar.

"Ah, prince Chrom of Ylisse…heh heh. It must be fate that brought us together," the slimy dark mage laughed. Eugh.

Chrom faltered, confused. "You…know me? That's not possible…and it doesn't matter." He got back on track.

"He's from Plegia, Chrom, of course he knows who you are," I pointed out. Immediately I had to dodge a bolt of dark magic, courtesy of Validar. Rude.

"Augh!" Behind me, Robin was hit with the bolt of dark magic I had dodged, knocking him off his feet.

"Robin! I'm so sorry are you okay?!" I apologized, almost panicking. Turning my back on Validar, as the melee-weapon-users had him distracted, I checked on Robin.

The bolt of dark magic had hit him in the face. Ouch. Where it had hit his skin darkened, as if it had tanned over an entire summer. It was a stark contrast to his usual skin tone. Nothing that wouldn't heal with help from Lissa, hopefully. I'd feel awful if he got permanent scarring from my mistake.

"I'll be fine, thanks for checking," Robin shook his head, as if shaking out the pain. "It's not your fault; it's been a long battle, but that's no reason for me to let my guard down."

If he said so, I supposed. I helped him up, and we got back to the fight.

I began charging another ball of magic while the others kept Validar at bay. If there was any time to use a charged attack it was against the level boss, right?

I held onto the magic for as long as I could, letting it build, before shouting, "MOVE!" as a warning to my allies. They had just enough time to jump out of the way before I hit Validar with everything I had: a blinding beam of light that scorched my hand as I let it go.

I didn't get to see Validar go down (and subsequently teleport away), as I was immediately hit with a wave of nausea from overexerting myself and whited out. That was an extremely powerful spell for someone who never even saw magic before today. Why did I think that was a good idea?

"Whoa, Jaylen, easy on the magic, there," Robin steadied me as my vision came back. "If you use too much at once, you'll overload yourself. Where did you learn to use magic? Didn't anyone teach you?"

"Well…not really?" I moved away, able to stand on my own again and not wanting to inconvenience my crush by making him hold me up any longer. "I've never actually used magic before today. It doesn't exist in my world. Chrom let me borrow a tome of yours he had so I could fight." It wasn't until the words were already said that I realized I totally threw Chrom under the bus. Woops.

"Is that so?" Robin asked, turning to look sternly at the Ylissean prince.

Chrom winced, looking sheepish while Lissa shifted uncomfortably. Frederick frowned at them, as if he hadn't also seen nothing wrong with giving me the tome.

"That…about sums it up, actually," Chrom weakly admitted.

Robin shook his head in exasperation. "I don't know why I'm surprised, and  _yet…_ just be careful, Jaylen. I can give you lessons tomorrow, if you want. For now, let's just be glad the battle is over."

"We should find the others," Frederick pointed out, "and make sure they and that curate are alright."

"Right."

* * *

"Who was that dark mage?" Robin wondered as we all made our way to the north side of the temple. "When he laughed, it felt like he was looking right through me."

"Trouble," I answered, before elaborating. "He's also your father, Robin, and he intends to use you to revive an evil dragon. Which one was never made clear, in this world, but in your own world, his goal is to reawaken Grima. Actually, how are you feeling? Any headache or weakness?"

"My father?" Robin was still taking in the new information. "And aside from these battle wounds, I feel alright. Why?"

"He's going to try to control you. In the version of the story where I'm from, he succeeds for a short time, making you attack Chrom. You get a bad headache before the battle where it happens, likely a side-effect of him trying to take control."

"So I should warn you if I start getting a headache? Augh!" He cringed, cupping his face.

"Robin! What's wrong?" Chrom worried.

"It's that dark magic mark, obviously!" Lissa pushed through our small group to get to Robin. "Step aside, and let the professional handle this!"

Lissa and professional were two things I generally didn't think of as synonymous, but she  _was_ the only healer here. I moved out of the way, not wanting to be told off by the feisty cleric.

Said feisty cleric got out her staff, channeling magic through the gem to heal Robin. The marked skin started to fade back to its original color, but was still visibly darker once she was done. Making a face, she tried again, but this time nothing changed.

"It looks like that's the best it's gonna get," she relented. "Maybe I need a stronger staff…"

"It feels better than it did, at least," Robin sighed. "Thanks."

"Are you sure you're alright, Robin?" Chrom asked. "Any other injuries? You were on your own for a while there."

"I'm alright, Chrom, Lissa got to those already. It's just the dark magic that likes to stick around."

"In any case," Frederick cut in. "It looks like Jaylen was right; it seems the Gristonne soldiers fled when they heard of Validar's defeat."

"I was worried they wouldn't, but I'm glad they did." Everything I knew was from the game; for all I knew, things could work differently now that it was real.

"Where are you from, to know things about the future?" Robin asked. "You said something about the version of 'the story' where you're from."

I didn't see much point in hiding my origin; we were all from different words here. Mine just happened to think theirs was fictional. "I'm from another world, just like you." How to put this…"To explain how I know things about your worlds, you need to know a couple things about mine."

There. That was a good start.

"In my world, technology is a lot different. We don't have magic, but we have advanced computer systems. Think of a computer as…hm. It's hard to explain. At their core, computers are banks of information. Imagine an entire library fitting into one page, where you can call up whatever information you want while the rest is saved where you can't see it.

"We use these computers for everything, basically, but the important thing for my explanation is that we can use them for games. Most games I like to play have a story to them. The player's choices can change certain aspects, which is what makes them fun, but the plot stays the same most of the time. Like an interactive play, or a complicated game of chess where all the pieces have names and lives.

"I know about this world from a game; I thought it was fictional, but obviously it's not because I'm actually here now."

"So you're basing your knowledge and advice…off of a game?" Lissa sounded skeptical.

"Well when you say it like  _that_ it sounds irresponsible," I muttered, "but do you have any better ideas? I've been right so far. You're lucky I liked this game so much; I wouldn't remember events otherwise."

"What's to like about war?" Frederick asked.

"The strategy," Robin replied, thinking about chess.

"The people," I said at the same time. We looked at each other. "That too," I acknowledged. "Anyway, we've got a long road ahead of us. I plan on changing quite a bit of it, if I can, but as it stands the game was twenty-one chapters long. When you consider that almost every chapter is based around a different battle…"

"Captian!" A voice called over the wind. "I found you!" It was Cordelia, gliding down on her pegasus. She slowed to a hover so she could talk. "I'll lead you to the others. Follow me!" And off she went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every time I open up my notes to write this, I'm overwhelmed by the urge to play FEW. Understandably, this means that I start playing instead of writing, causing this chapter to take longer to write. Oh well. 
> 
> So right near the end of the chapter I mentioned that coming in contact with dark magic darkened Robin's skin…this is somewhat canon actually? Except canon makes it kind of yikes. In canon, practicing dark magic darkens your skin, making it look like you're a different ethnicity. This implies that dark mages are all supposed to be white despite living in the desert, which is where the yikes comes in. I think it's an interesting concept but obviously problematic. So I tried to take out the yikes because, well, yikes. Now it's not practicing dark magic that darkens your skin tone, (so dark mages who live in the desert are NOT white because dang) it's touching dark magic. This gives a cool two-tone effect, but it heals with time. If you think that's a bad idea, let me know and I'll apologize and take it out. I'm not looking to upset anyone here. Skin is cool. 
> 
> In other news I dreamt that I called Frederick "Frederipped," because I saw him without his armor and what do you know, he was indeed ripped! I laughed so hard I woke up.


	4. Awakening 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrong Hero-King, people!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I just had the biggest emotional whiplash
> 
> DRAWN TO LIFE HAS A NEW GAME!!!
> 
> But it sucks. 
> 
> This is why we can't have nice things TTuTT
> 
> Moving on, I've been busy planning the future of this story. I ended up making a timeline of events to organize my thoughts with, and by the time I was done with it it looked a lot different than I expected! Not to say that I don't like it, quite the contrary! I'm excited to write it! It's such a weight off my back to know where the story is going despite the changes from canon. 
> 
> What I'm trying to say is that once we hit the end of the Awakening arc things are going to change BIG time. Until then, it should be smooth sailing, but after that it might take a little bit for each chapter because I'll no longer have an actual script to work off of. There's so many characters to learn to write!

Rowan, Lianna, and Darios were already walking away from the bishop by the time we reached them. 

"Did the bishop tell you anything new?" I asked. 

Darios looked up at our approaching group. "Nothing of note, though it looks like heroes from other worlds won't be able to return home until Velezark is defeated. Don't ask me how it works." He shook his head. 

"So it's true, then." Chrom murmured. "Jaylen's been right about everything?"

Darios nodded. "Looks like it."

"In that case, we should use that information to make a plan," Robin spoke up. 

"Right!" Rowan agreed.

"What happens next?" Lianna looked to me. 

Actually, everyone was looking at me. I didn't like that. 

Ignoring the urge to shrink back from the attention, I mentally reviewed the events of the game. The next thing to do was to meet Lucina in the desert, right? Then go to the Dragon's Table, where Robin attacks Chrom. Then the whole Fates arc happens, then Darios's scouts tell him about the activity at the Gristonne stronghold…and then he gets possessed. Yeah, let's avoid that. In order to defeat the waves of monsters at the stronghold and rescue Darios, the twins get the swords from the World Tree, but that gives Possarios (as my best friend Niki lovingly dubbed the possessed Darios) time to make evil plans or whatever. 

So if we were to get the swords before addressing the stronghold, the twins wouldn't have to leave and could rescue Darios right away. Although, hopefully with my intervention he won't be possessed in the first place. The swords would still be helpful for closing outrealm portals, as, lore-wise, they're the only weapons capable of doing that, so that seemed like a good course of action. 

But the swords could come after the Awakening arc. One thing at a time. "We should start by going to the desert. I'm sure you've heard about the masked mercenary calling himself Marth in that area? We need to meet him."

"That's right! A masked swordsman helped us in a battle against outrealm fiends! I wonder if that was him?" Lianna looked excited at the prospect of meeting him again. 

"He did say his name was Marth," Darios agreed. 

"Marth? You can't have met the legendary Hero-King Marth. He lived thousands of years ago; there's just no way." Despite Chrom's words, I could see the excitement in his eyes at the prospect of meeting his ancestor. 

I coughed. "Have you considered that the portals we came through don't care about things like time, or what should be possible? I mean, no offense, but you're fictional where I come from."

"If it is Marth, then he will doubtlessly have a gleamstone." Frederick surmised. 

I decided not to refute him. Marth certainly did have a gleamstone, but "Marth" did not. Technicalities. 

"It's settled then! Let's go to the desert!" Rowan cheered. 

Gosh, who was that happy about a bunch of sand?

* * *

Chrom sent Cordelia to scout ahead to see what we were up against.

She returned quickly. "Chrom! I was able to gather valuable information in the desert!"

Lianna was shocked. "What, already?! That's amazing! You really can do everything…"

I didn't know about  _everything,_ but pegasus knights were certainly useful for scouting, that's for sure!

"Cordelia is the best of the best. We'd be lost without her," Chrom remarked.

"I-uh! Uh…huh…" Cordelia was at a loss for words, her crush on Chrom causing her to short-circuit at the words of praise.

"She's invaluable on the battlefield. Truly, I consider her irreplaceable,"Chrom continued. It was only after he finished speaking that he noticed Cordelia's plight. "Cordelia, what's wrong?"

Clueless dunce.

Cordelia did her best to recompose herself. "Ahem! Ah, well…forgive me, Chrom! Allow me to continue my report. True to Jaylen's word, it appears Gristonne recently hired a skilled mercenary. He goes by "Marth," wears a mask, and uses unheard-of sword techniques!"

"It must be the same person!" Rowan exclaimed.

"It couldn't be the Hero-King himself; he'd have no reason to wear a mask. Still, if Jaylen says we should investigate…" Chrom thought out loud.

"The Gristonne army blocks our way again." Darios frowned. "Could my father really be behind this?"

"Darios…" Lianna worried.

"Do you really want to know?" I asked. "I  _can_ tell you what's going on, you know."

"We'll have to fight our way through to this "Marth" regardless. Tell me after—no, tell me now. If I don't know it could distract me during the battle."

I nodded, understanding. Anxiety was very distracting, especially when it was over the unknown. "Your father _is_ behind this, Darios. I'm sorry. He's the one trying to raise Velezark so he can rule over Aytolis. He would do anything, even use you as Velezark's host as he regains power. In fact, that's exactly what happens in the story back home. But I'm not going to let that happen here, got it?" My expression was one of determination, taking Darios aback. "I suppose it would be fair to give you a choice, though I myself am aware of the answer. Will you fight for your friends, or your father?"

"We can't make you fight your own country, your own family." Lianna sounded troubled.

"If what Jaylen says is true," Darios began, "then King Oskar is no family of mine." He turned to me. "How can I know I can trust your word? I mean no offense, Jaylen, but how do I know you just don't want me as an enemy?"

That…hurt. It was justified, considering I had shown up out of nowhere knowing way more than I should, but it still hurt.

"I don't know if I can give you a good reason to trust me, honestly. I know more than I should. Frederick probably thinks I'm a spy, which is a reasonable deduction, but untrue. I guess it boils down to this: why would I try to turn you against your father if he wasn't the one behind this? You saved my life. It would be completely ungrateful of me to try to do anything not in your best interest."

I decided not to mention the fact that I actually  _could_ have ulterior motives, if I were from a third kingdom that wanted to rule over both Aytolis and Gristonne. Pitting the two countries against each other would make the perfect opportunity to swoop in and take over while they were both weakened. 

Rowan looked between everyone, thinking. "I don't think Jaylen would be lying. They didn't even know how to fight when we found them, and they decided to try using magic to help us anyway."

Darios sighed. "I suppose now is not the time for debate. Thank you for telling me, Jaylen. I'd be fighting for Aytolis regardless, but it's good to know that I would not be safe in my own kingdom. Come on; while we talk about this, we're giving the enemy more time to prepare."

"Right!"

* * *

I gotta say, the sandstorm was  _way worse_ to experience for real than it was in the game. Just—sand. Sand everywhere. Having been out on a walk when I portal'd to Aytolis, I was showing quite a lot of skin, especially by my standards. A tank-top and short-shorts, even if they did have a slipshort under them, did not protect me from getting sandblasted. Luckily I did have the foresight to tie my jacket around my face, protecting my airways.

I was so glad there weren't any snowy chapters in this game.

Of course, I'd have to survive this  _damn sandstorm_ to get to them if there were, so…

Thunder magic wasn't working very well with all the sand in the air, and I doubted fire magic would either.  _Wind_ magic, on the other hand, had a little extra  _umph_ with the sand backing it up. Not only would opponents be hit by a strong blast of air, but they'd also be pelted by high-speed sand.

I didn't know how to use dark magic yet. I'd have to ask Robin—he  _did_ have the ability to use Ruin as his fourth strong-attack, after all. 

I think it was Ruin anyway. 

Currently, though, I was partnered with Frederick and Darios. We were braving the sandstorm to look for the pillar to the north, but it was like a maze in here. I knew the layout in the game, but it was different when you didn't have a minimap telling you what cardinal direction you were going. 

On top of everything else, the visibility was awful. Even with my glasses giving my eyes a modicum of protection, I had to squint and hope my eyelashes did their job and caught any sand that would go into my eyes otherwise. 

As a result, we were getting pretty battered. Enemies seemed to come out of nowhere, though they seemed as surprised to see us as we were to see them when that happened. 

I shot a blast of wind magic at an archer shooting at Darios, knocking the arrows off-course. "We should have brought a healer!" I lamented. 

Neither Frederick nor Darios dared open their mouths to respond, lest they breathe in too much sand. Unlike me, they didn't have anything to shield their faces with. 

Guess I shouldn't have complained about being unprepared for the weather. At least they had long sleeves and pants, though. And appropriate shoes. Tennis shoes were fine, but let in more sand than, say, boots would have. 

Frederick scouted ahead, having the speed on his horse to do so quickly. Moments later he returned. "We're almost there!" He coughed, and said nothing else. Now that he'd gotten his point across, keeping his mouth closed was more important. 

True to his word, the magic boundary was just ahead. There was no time to recover once we crossed it, however, as there were enemies waiting for us. 

The air now (mostly) free of sand, now was the perfect time to use something other than wind magic. 

"Pi-KA!" I shouted, and shot a bolt of thunder magic that would make a pikachu proud. 

What? I could have a little fun with this, right?

The thunder magic arced between the soldiers, their metal armor doing them no favors. They seized up, making them easy targets for Frederick and Darios. 

"If I remember right, the statue causing the sandstorm should be ahead a ways and to the left." I panted. Now that the ambush at the exit to the sandstorm was taken care of, we had a moment to breathe. 

"Let's hope your world's game was correct, then." Darios hunched over, coughing up sand. "I don't think I can go back in that sandstorm if you're wrong."

"Perhaps a quick break would be helpful." Frederick didn't sound any better than Darios, his voice hoarse from the sand in his throat. 

"I'll keep watch, then. I had my jacket to protect my nose and mouth, so I think I'm a bit better off. I have the range to hold people back, too."

Darios nodded, not deigning to respond.

* * *

On the move once again, we fought our way to where I correctly predicted the statue to be. 

I was tiring quickly. Sure, I didn't have to swing a weapon, but we were crossing quite a lot of ground here! By the time the statue was in sight I was ready to drop. 

Without waiting for permission, I set it alight with a burst of fire magic. There. 

The other statue-breaking group must have broken their statue already, because the sandstorm, which we could see from the cliff next to us, blew itself out moments after this one burnt down. 

Now, in the game, you could jump off those cliffs like it was no big deal. Looking over it now, however, told me I'd definitely break something if I tried that here. I had yet to break a bone in my twenty-two years of living; I did not want to change that now. 

I hastily stepped back as an arrow wizzed over my shoulder. Maybe looking over cliffs when there were enemies below was a bad idea. 

"Chrom and the others should be pushing towards Marth now," Frederick stated, "we should head back and join them."

"Right. Gods know that Rowan and Lianna will get into trouble without me." Darios said, exasperated.

* * *

My energy was flagging, now, and unfortunately everyone could tell, enemies and allies alike. 

I tripped as I messed up a dodge, Darios having to jump in to prevent me from getting killed. 

How familiar. 

I hastily got my feet under me, spinning myself up to prevent putting too much weight on my bad wrist on the way. 

"Do you know how to ride a horse, Jaylen?" Frederick asked, having dispatched the last of the enemies on his side. "It's prudent to get you off your feet, so you don't fall and get killed due to your exhaustion."

"It's been several years, and I've only done it two or three times, but it seemed pretty intuitive." I was breathing heavily now, my throat sore from it, actually. This was why I hated exercise; even without sand in the air, it always started to hurt to breathe. When I complained about it as a kid adults would tell me to stop being dramatic because I didn't have asthma, but I had looked it up recently. There were a couple things it could be, but long story short it was a real condition that was just not often taken seriously. 

Sucks to suck, I suppose. 

I got my breathing under control, though my throat would continue to be sore for a while yet. Frederick dismounted, helping me onto his horse while Darios held off the nearest attackers. 

"Thanks," I wheezed. "Sorry, I've never been one for exercise. I'm trying to fix that, but got sent here before I could make much progress." Seeing someone trying to sneak up behind the knight, I threw a blast of magic—plain white light, as I'd been too hasty to decide on a type of anima magic—over Frederick's head at the potential attacker. The sound of the myrmidon getting thrown off his feet alerted Frederick to his presence, who finished him off. 

"We should catch up with the others," Darios commented. "With any luck, we'll be in time to question Marth."

* * *

We did, in fact, catch up to the main group in time to question "Marth." More than just in time, as I had the privilege of seeing Lucina fight Chrom. They were so in-sync, clearly using the exact same discipline. One could not get the upper hand over the other. 

"Tell me, who taught you to fight?" Chrom enquired during a lull in their dance. 

"My father," said Lucina, and pressed the attack. 

Finally, Lucina found an opening, but hesitated, doubtlessly not wanting to actually hurt her father. Chrom, not knowing who she was and thus not having such qualms, took advantage of the hesitation, disarming her and knocking her down. 

She made no move to get up; she knew she was beaten. It helped that Chrom still had his sword pointed at her, though. 

"Do you concede?"

"Yes."

"Good." Chrom sheathed his sword, helping her up. 

"Now that I've been beaten, I no longer have to play the mercenary. May I join you?" Lucina started the post-battle dialogue. 

"You're more than just a mercenary?" Robin sounded surprised. He wasn't looking so good. There were dark circles under his eyes, and the dark magic mark seemed more pronounced on his paler-than-usual skin. 

Yeah, he'd definitely be sitting out next battle. Even knowing he was going to be controlled by Validar, there was little I could do to stop it. All we could do was damage control. 

"I've been investigating one of the mages hired by Gristonne, Validar. I thought I could find more information from the inside. I learned that Validar is preparing a ceremony at a place called the Dragon's Table." Lucina didn't beat around the bush. 

"The Dragon's Table? That ceremony must be one to revive the Chaos Dragon, then, like Jaylen and the Bishop said." Lianna deduced. 

"Wait, what's this about a Chaos Dragon?" Lucina asked.

* * *

Once Lucina was filled in, she frowned. "And you thought I might have one of these gleamstones?"

"Yup! The Hero-King would have to have one!" Rowan said. I stifled a snicker at this. You got the wrong Marth, Rowan…

"Shouldn't stopping Validar be our number one priority?" Lucina deflected. "He could be completing the ceremony while we're wasting time here."

"Marth is right," Darios agreed. "We have to move now if we want the best chance of stopping him. Even if that means raising my sword against my own father…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're going to pretend that you actually needed to go through the sandstorm to reach that statue, because I didn't look it up until I had already written that section and it turns out you don't. I normally go into the sandstorm as a personal challenge, so I forgot you don't have to. 
> 
> I've been watching my best friend play Path of Radiance, and, amazingly, watching her play is helping me learn! I had the confidence to open up Awakening again for the first time since high school!! I'm so excited!!
> 
> Update: she finished Path of Radiance and has moved on to Radiant Dawn! I also showed her FEW, and I just got past the point I was at on my first file in Awakening! Between all that, finally having the space on my phone to re-download FE Heroes, and writing this, I've basically been living and breathing Fire Emblem, heh.


End file.
